This build is designed to stack str and con modifiers to damage, while pushing your slowed and prone enemies all over the battlefield. You can pull enemies to you, then if they try to get away, either by moving or shifting, you can slow and push them.
POWERS Hybrid at-will 1: Tide of Iron Hybrid at-will 1: Thorn Strike Hybrid encounter 1: Thunder Ram Assault Hybrid daily 1: Form of Winter's Herald Hybrid utility 2: Grit and Spittle Hybrid encounter 3: Bull Charge Hybrid daily 5: Driving Attack Hybrid utility 6: Unbreakable Hybrid encounter 7: Come and Get It Hybrid daily 9: Form of the Fearsome Ram Hybrid utility 10: Earthstride Hybrid encounter 13: Crumpling Slam (replaces Bull Charge) Hybrid daily 15: Boulder Charge (replaces Form of Winter's Herald) Hybrid utility 16: Cleansing Earth
ITEMS Iron Armbands of Power (heroic tier), Avalanche Boots (heroic tier), Gauntlets of the Ram (heroic tier), Horned Helm (heroic tier), Heavy Shield, Magic Feyhide Armor +4, Knockback Warhammer +3, Badge of the Berserker +4, Belt of Blood (heroic tier)
Notes on this build:
Pushing or prone attacks add +str mod and + con mod to damage. (This doubles if the power does both.)
Whenever you push someone, you slow them with hindering shield and damage them with crippling crush.
The magic number for pushing is 5 squares total, since that is farther than a slowed enemy can move + charge. Any combination of items/feats to give +4 is sufficient, and anything in excess is overkill.
With nature's wrath you can mark a second enemy other than your attack target, so you can use combat challenge on it.
Example: Tide of Iron is an at will W + (str x2) + (con x2) attack that pushes (5+) and slows. So are your opp attacks and combat challenge.
Example: Crumpling Slam is an encounter 2W + (str x3) + (con x3) that pushes (5+), slows, and prones.
Example: Driving attack is a daily 2W + (str x2) + (con x2) with a secondary 1W + (str x3) + (con x3) that pushes (5+), slows, and prones.
For best results, use terrain to your advantage, and combine this build with a zone happy controller like a wizard. Knock enemies off cliffs, and keep them slowed and prone inside a wall of fire. Also, be prepared to teleport to the other side of the combat with earthstride and knock squishy enemies to your strikers (or just off a cliff). Form of the fearsome ram and its attack is a great way to move 8, shift 8, push a caster 8 back to your party, knock it prone, and shift all the way back to it, all with a move and standard.
Level 1: Hybrid Talent--Earthstrength not only provides neat riders, it also gives you a get out of jail card if you find yourself bloodied and surrounded by bad guys. I also prefer the mobility of hide armor for this build, though if you wanted, you could take fighter armor prof and get plate. (Useful a with the Adamantine Soldier ED)
Level 4: Sudden Roots (retrained to Hindering Shield at Level 11)--you are still a defender, and the loss of combat superiority means you need some sort of stickiness. At L11 this is retrained to hindering shield, because every push, slide, or pull then slows.
Level 14: Battering Shield---Extra +1 square on pushes.
Level 16: Hammer Rhythm---Extra damage when you miss.
Summary of power choices:
at-will 1: Tide of Iron---bread and butter push attack, with hindering shield you can knock melee off your squishies and make sure they don't come back for at least a round, or position them in aoes for your controllers.
at-will 1: Thorn Strike---pull casters/ranged to you, and since it's a pull, they are also slowed.
encounter 1: Thunder Ram Assault---Push an enemy into your aoe, then push everyone in the aoe. Great double hit power. Or if you don't care about double damage, then send the slowed main target flying con mod + adders squares, which in the build above is at least 10.
daily 1: Form of Winter's Herald---starting off you are the defender, and the difficult terrain here is too good to pass up, especially since you haven't started stacking damage modifiers yet.
utility 2: Grit and Spittle---a minor action and a healing surge is a great tradeoff to make a saving throw on every save ends effect. To not have font of life, oh well...it's worth it.
encounter 3: Bull Charge---push, prone and charge attack all in one.
daily 5: Driving Attack---double attack that has two push components and one prone. Yes.
utility 6: Unbreakable---more survivability, and usable every encounter. Like surgeless healing.
encounter 7: Come and Get It---this is even better on you. You mark, slow, and autodamage everyone you pull.
daily 9: Form of the Fearsome Ram---Why take a L1 power now? +2 speed, +2 charge attacks, and all pushes are at +1 square. Check out the encounter power too, which pretty much lets you push anyone on the battlefield wherever you want, then shift back to them. Yay for nova rounds!
utility 10: Earthstride---Since you are more aggresive than a normal defender, you want to get to the casters on ledges and knock them off, or just get yourself out of a sticky situation. A teleport 6 on a pusher is golden.
encounter 13: Crumpling Slam (replaces Bull Charge)---Just add up the modifiers.
daily 15: Boulder Charge (replaces Form of Winter's Herald)---Move through as many enemies as you want, don't provoke due to badge of the berserker, then push, slow, and knock prone every enemy you hit. Combine this with form of the fearsome ram, and see how many enemies you can hit in 8 squares.
utility 16: Cleansing Earth---another self saving throw, this one with a bonus equal to your strength.
And for last, the question every hybrid build should answer: Why play this over a single classed X?
Compared to a fighter you lose:
+1 to hit (or battlerager vigor)
combat superiority or combat agility
heavy armor
You gain:
the ability to mark a foe you aren't attacking, which is useful when using a single target power like tide of iron or crumpling slam
guardian forms, so if you wanted, you could have two total, which are great in epic with a maw of the guardian and the crushing guardian feat
better power selection---gaining the powers from two classes mean you have less levels with subpar choices (for example, there are lots of levels with no push fighter powers, or where the utility powers suck)
wardens grasp
AC on a second wind
Compared to a warden you lose:
marking more than two targets
font of life
You gain:
boatloads of push powers, and the corresponding damage
The magic number for pushing is 5 squares total, since that is farther than a slowed enemy can move + charge. Any combination of items/feats to give +4 is sufficient, and anything in excess is overkill.
Actually, you might shoot for a magic number of 7 squares total. Any slowed enemy can run + charge and still attack you from 6 squares away. Other than that, well thought out build/concept!
Running means a -5 to attack and granting CA, so I wouldn't be too worried about that. I would be worried about, however, the enormous amount of enemies who have speeds greater than 6 (and thus would probably just grab as much push enhancements as was possible without prohibitively affecting other things).
Running means a -5 to attack and granting CA, so I wouldn't be too worried about that. I would be worried about, however, the enormous amount of enemies who have speeds greater than 6 (and thus would probably just grab as much push enhancements as was possible without prohibitively affecting other things).
Speed greater than 6 won't matter, slow reduces any speed to 2. That said, at higher levels teleporting enemies and enemies with lots of shift powers come into play.
I absolutely agree that teleporting enemies are a pita, however, this build is still useful when a party is tactical, and uses delaying to its advantage. A pusher makes a great initiator because they can reach bad guys on the far side of the map, and knock them all the way back to your delaying melee strikers. Rogues especially will love you since the enemy will be prone.
While I agree that pushing above 5 squares is great, I feel that after a certain point it becomes less and less useful, and that you are giving up too much by way of other high level enchantments that compete for the same slots on your character. I mean, if you can get it, great, but if you can't don't sweat it. Not every push needs to be 12+ squares.
Here's a variant on the above build, using a barbarian/warden instead. Be aware that the build below is more of a striker, since your stickiness is not as great, but being able to rage in a guardian form is pretty neat.
ITEMS Heavy Shield, Knockback Warhammer +3, Marauder's Feyhide Armor +4, Iron Armbands of Power (heroic tier), Avalanche Boots (heroic tier), Gauntlets of the Ram (heroic tier), Belt of Blood (heroic tier), Cloak of the Walking Wounded +3, Horned Helm (heroic tier)
The great thing about this build is that the distance you can push people is far greater, and you can push creatures larger than large size with an at-will (unlike tide of iron). You also have more mobility than a fighter/warden, however, this is at the expense of your stickiness (no combat challenge/aoe pulls.)
Thanks, the thread about bad hybrids made me want to search out the good ones. I'll attempt to not make any that have already been done, or that are not as good as a single classed character.
